American actor Cameron Boyce achieved stardom as a teenager when he played one of the leads in the television show, Jessie. His role in the Descendants television film catapulted him to bigger heights. He also starred in a number of successful feature films like Grown Ups. He died in July 2019, at a young age of 20, due to epilepsy.
Louis Armstrong was an American trumpeter and singer who played an important role in the development of jazz. Thanks to his playing, trumpet became known as a solo instrument and jazz, which was previously known as a collectively improvised folk music, became a soloist's art form. Not surprisingly, Louis Armstrong is widely accepted as the embodiment of jazz.
Best known for playing the iconic character of Sonny Corleone in the movie, The Godfather, James Caan is a practising martial artist, apart from being an actor and director. He has trained under Japanese-American master of karate, Takayuki Kubota, for almost 30 years. For his contributions to arts, he was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Edward VI of England served as the King of England and Ireland from 1547 until his death at the age of 15 in 1553. Edward VI, who took interest in religious matters, allowed Protestantism to be established in England during his reign. His reign also witnessed the introduction of written works that formed the basis for practices of the English Church.
Regarded as one of the world’s greatest film composers, Ennio Morricone was an Italian composer, orchestrator and conductor who scored music for over 500 films in his career spanning seven decades. Morricone covered a wide range of music styles and is best known for scores in the Dollar Trilogy and Once Upon a Time in the West.
Henry II of England reigned as the king of England from 1154 to 1189. During his long rule, Henry introduced many changes that had severe long-term consequences. Some of his legal changes are believed to have laid the foundation for English Common Law. Henry is often portrayed in films and plays; he has been played by actors like Peter O'Toole.
Actor and dancer Buddy Ebsen is best remembered for playing Jed Clampett in the CBS television sitcom, The Beverly Hillbillies. In a career spanning seven decades, he appeared in numerous films and TV shows, playing versatile roles. Beginning his career as a dancer, he soon ventured into acting. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Roy Rogers was an American singer, television host, and actor. Credited with co-founding one of America's earliest Western singing groups, Sons of the Pioneers, Rogers is widely regarded as one of the most famous Western stars of his generation. One of the earliest actors to popularize Western films, Roy Rogers was often referred to as the King of the Cowboys.
Singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, Charlie Daniels, is remembered for his contributions to Southern rock, country, and bluegrass music. He had an extensive career that spanned over half a century and was inducted into the Cheyenne Frontier Days Hall of Fame and the Country Music Hall of Fame. He had also appeared in a few films.
Guy de Maupassant was a French author who wrote 300 short stories during his illustrious career. Widely regarded as the father of the modern short story, Maupassant's stories are characterized by economy of style and depicted human lives in pessimistic terms,
Dhirubhai Ambani was an Indian business tycoon. He is credited with founding Reliance Industries, which is currently the largest company in the country in terms of revenue. Dhirubhai Ambani's life and career inspired the 2007 drama film Guru, in which his character was portrayed by Abhishek Bachchan.

Władysław Szpilman was a Polish pianist of Jewish descent. He was a popular performer on Polish radio and in concert in the 1930s. He was also a prolific composer. He survived the Holocaust and was the central figure in the 2002 Roman Polanski film The Pianist. His son, Andrzej Szpilman, is also a composer and music producer.
John Marshall was an American lawyer and politician. From 1801 to 1835, Marshall worked as the fourth Chief Justice of the US. He remains the longest-serving chief justice in Supreme Court history and is considered one of the most influential Supreme Court justices of all time. In 2005, a commemorative dollar was minted in his honor.

Born into a working-class family, Aneurin Bevan quit school at 13 to start working at a colliery. He later won a scholarship to study in London and rose to become a Labour MP. He led the ministries of labor and health, and the left-wing of the Labour Party, the Bevanites.

Georg Ohm was a German mathematician and physicist. He is credited with discovering the proportionality between the voltage applied through a conductor and the subsequent electric current, which came to be known as Ohm's law. His work earned him the prestigious Copley Medal in 1841. A prolific writer, Georg Ohm published several papers and pamphlets throughout his career.




Granville Sharp was an activist who became one of the first English campaigners to support abolitionism in the UK. Sharp devised a plan to settle people in slavery and black people in Sierra Leone. He also established the St George's Bay Company and is thus considered a founding father of Sierra Leone. Sharp also worked towards correcting other social injustices.

German Expressionist artist George Grosz, later a naturalized US citizen, is most noted for his caricatural drawings and paintings of Berlin life. A leading member of the Berlin Dada and New Objectivity groups during the Weimar Republic, Grosz later departed from his earlier style and subjects and taught at the Art Students League of New York for several years.


John Huss was a Czech philosopher and theologian. He is credited with inspiring a Proto-Protestant Christian movement called Hussitism, which started in the Kingdom of Bohemia before spreading across the Lands of the Bohemian Crown. He also inspired the Bohemian Reformation, which is regarded as one of the most important social, political, and religious movements of the early modern period.

Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Altenburg was the daughter of Duchess Amelia of Württemberg and Joseph, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg. A high-spirited and conservative personality, Alexandra had an interest in music. Unlike most royal members, Princess Alexandra had a difficult personal life and is credited with bringing up her children almost single-handedly.






Joaquín Rodrigo was a Spanish composer and a virtuoso pianist best known for composing the Concierto de Aranjuez. He lost his sight as a child and was encouraged by his parents to study music. He excelled in his musical education and began composing in braille as a young man. In 1983, he was awarded the Premio Nacional de Música.


Jeanne Lanvin was a French fashion designer who is credited with founding the multinational high fashion house, Lanvin. She is also credited with founding the perfume and beauty company Lanvin Parfums. In the 1920s, she opened shops devoted to menswear, lingerie, and home décor. In 1938, she was presented with the Officier Legion of Honour.




Lawyer and social reformer Edwin Chadwick played a significant role in the passage of the 1848 Public Health Act. He also reformed the Poor Laws, bringing about major developments in urban sanitization. He was eventually knighted for his achievements. His writings include an iconic report on the “Labouring Population of Great Britain.”


Ludovico Ariosto was an Italian poet best remembered for authoring the epic poem Orlando Furioso, which describes the adventures of Orlando, Charlemagne, and the Franks. Ariosto is also credited with coining the term humanism, which is among the most commonly used words by modern philosophers.


Painter Cuno Amiet is largely credited with bringing in modern art to Switzerland. Known for his signature use of color dots and pastel shades, he created more then 1,000 self-portraits and countless landscapes. Associated with the expressionist movement, he later became part of Swiss Federal Art Commission.